


Secrets

by inquisitorsmabari



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Developing Relationship, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Interfering Friends, because it will be super cute i imagine, in general, not just in this one fic, so if you like that go find the main fic and read it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-20 08:39:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16133663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inquisitorsmabari/pseuds/inquisitorsmabari
Summary: It turns out, you can see a lot from the rookery, a fact which Leliana soon discovers while she laments on the fact that someone really should have patched up the hole in Commander Cullen's roof.





	Secrets

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tollofthebells](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tollofthebells/gifts).



“Are you satisfied, Josie?” Leliana asked as she tore herself away from the desk in front of her, turning her back on the scattering of aged parchments that covered the ancient wood. “This is all proving to be very exhausting.”

“Yes, I suppose it will suffice,” Josephine’s words were no more than a sigh behind her as Leliana sauntered over to the small, latticed window that filtered in the daylight sun and scattered it into the rookery that she had made her workspace. She could see everything from here, the whole of Skyhold was laid out before her eyes as people ferried along the battlements and across the courtyard. Her eyes fell easily up on the tower that their commander had chosen to reside in, the one which looked as if it had been battered in a storm, with the old, sad wooden roof weeping before her eyes as it descended into a cavernous gaping hole. 

“You know,” She sighed, her eyes glancing away from the scene in front of her as she turned back to address her friend, who had perched herself in a stiff manner on an old wooden stool on the other side of her desk. “We really should have spent some of that money on fixing Cullen’s roof. What’s going to happen when the winter comes?”

“We wanted to,but he told us he didn’t need it,” Josephine shrugged, causing Leliana to turn away with a scoff of disbelief, her eyes falling once again on the scene that continued to play out in front of her. But a flash of movement drew her eyes once again to the tower, a streak of amber marred by a splash of brown as two figures moved beneath the hole above them. 

“Oh, Josie! I think I can see Cullen from here.” She remarked, her eyes narrowing as she watch with a new found interest. He was moving fast. No, _they_ were moving fast, darting past the hole with a flash of colour before moving back into view again, but slower this time, more deliberate in their movements as she saw what looked to be their commander with his body hunched over as he faced away from her. But then he turned, and she saw another figure. “Josie, I think he’s with someone…”

They turned again. And now, it was laid out fully in front of her eyes, clear as day, and she could scarcely believe what she was seeing.

“Josie! Josie!” She cried, her eyes wide as they fixed upon the dance taking place before her eyes. “Get over here now!”

“What?” She asked as she hurried around the table to nudge her way past Leliana and stare out the window. “What are we looking at?”

“Them!” She said, pointing to the figures who continued to perform their song and dance beneath the gaping hole in Cullen’s roof. “Cullen and Ellinor! Look!”

“Oh Maker,” Josephine whispered, her breath fogging up the glass in front of her as she let out an exasperated sigh. “They really need to learn how to be more discreet.”

Leliana’s eyes narrowed she she stared at the woman in front of her who’s eyes remained unmoving as they stared through the murky glass window. “Why are you not freaking out about this?” She asked, indicating to the pair whose shenanigans were quickly escalating before their eyes. “Josie! That’s the Inquisitor and Cullen, they’re doing...you know...it!”

“I know, keep your voice down!” Josephine said, turning to Leliana with a scowl as she pulled her eyes away from the window. 

“What do you mean, you know?” Leliana asked her as she lowered her voice to a whisper and brought herself closer to Josephine, throwing a quick glance at the room around them, where no one seemed to have noticed her quick outburst of surprise. 

“I found out the other day, Ellinor told me,” She whispered with brown eyes that were wild with the sheer delight of sharing in gossip. “But I wasn’t meant to tell anyone, so no one else knows yet except Cassandra.”

“Really?” Leliana whispered frantically as her eyes wandered over to the window behind Josephine with the promise of scandal that lay on the other side of the old, murky glass. “So, wait, all those times that they stayed behind in the war room to discuss strategy…”

“Yep,”

“And all those reports she had to deliver in person to his office…”

“Yep,” 

“And that time at the Winter Palace when they went out on the balcony together…”

“Oh they were just dancing that night,” Josephine told her with a sly smile as she stared dreamily over Leliana’s shoulder. “It was after that night that the relationship _really_ evolved.”

“Maker…” Leliana sighed, her eyes widening as dark images began to form in her mind. “I can’t believe they haven’t told anyone.” An idea came to her mind then, a ray of light that shone through the darkness and replaced her dark, unwanted thoughts with thoughts of mischief, secrecy, revenge. They thought to keep it a secret from them, to play their games behind everyone’s backs. Well, two could play at that game. “I have an idea.” She told Josephine, and soon, her brown eyes were awash with pure, fiendish delight.

\-----

The War Council had been summoned at a somewhat inconvenient time. A runner had tapped onto the door of Cullen’s office as Ellinor lay upon the scratchy covers with a fur draped around her shoulders to stave off the chill of the mountain air that filtered in through the large hole in the roof of Cullen’s tower.

_We really should have gotten that fixed_.

As the knocking intensified, Cullen scrambled to his feet to pull on his clothes while she lay with her dark hair sprawled out against the covers, her eyes focused on the faint wisp of clouds that floated overhead while she heard Cullen curse and mutter as he dropped down the ladder to answer his door. She didn’t care to listen, she didn’t want to, her eyes continuing to watch the clouds of white as they dispersed amongst the sea of blue, broken only occasionally by the silhouette of soaring wings.

“Lin,” Cullen called from the office below, his voice echoing off of the old stone walls before travelling up into the loft where she lay. “We need to get going. Leliana has called a meeting of the War Council.”

With a groan that was loud enough to be heard by the entirety of Skyhold, she pushed herself off of the bed and prepared herself to submit to duty once again.

That was why she walked into the council chamber now, with a scowl on her face and a piece of dark brown hair which stuck up at an odd angle, feeling more than a little ticked off. But she was here, and she would smile, and she would deal with the matter at hand, whatever that may be.

“I’m so glad you could join us at such short notice,” Leliana said with a smile as she stood at the head of the large wooden table surrounded by Josephine and Cassandra. “Although in all honesty, this is less of an issue for the Council, and more for our Commander. But I think it’s good that we are _open_ and _honest_ with each other, don’t you?”

She smiled sweetly, but it wasn’t like Leliana to smile sweetly. And that’s what made her tense up beneath the glare from her equally sweet, soft gaze. That, and the strange emphasis she had chosen to lay upon chosen words in her speech. 

“We received these after our attendance at the Winter Palace ball,” Josephine began as she handed a pile of papers to Cullen. “I’m sure you will find them an interesting read.”

“What are they?” Ellinor asked with concern as she moved to stand behind Cullen’s shoulder. 

“Letters from interested parties,” She froze as Leliana’s words tore through her with all the ferocity of a bolt of lightning as it shattered against the earth while thunder echoed through the hall as he dropped the papers to his feet. “Suffice to say that our Commander was _very_ popular amongst a number of the party goers at the Winter Palace.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Cullen said as he shook his head violently. “You can’t seriously be thinking that this would be a good idea I mean...I can’t, I…”

“You won’t even consider it?” Josephine asked with a frown, her eyes wide with concern as she looked over at Cullen.

“Ladies, this is cruel,” Cassandra voice could hardly be heard as she spoke to the two women with hushed tones. But Ellinor heard it plainly enough.

“What are you plotting?” She asked with a stern air as she stared at the three women with narrowed eyes.

“Nothing, it’s just diplomacy,” Josephine said with a smile directed at her before she turned to frown at Cullen once again. “I mean, you could entertain the idea, couldn’t you? It would only be a silly date or two, nothing serious. There’s nothing stopping you, is there?”

“No prior engagement?” Leliana asked, but her she was only met with a still, heavy silence. No one spoke, no one dared to breathe, as everyone stared at one another with pained expressions. She saw Cullen glance over at her, she saw him swallow as a bead of sweat formed on his brow. And then she saw him turn to the papers once again.

“Wait!” She cried, putting her hand over Cullen’s as he leant to reach down to grasp the papers once again. He froze in place with his eyes turned down, his muscles tense as her fingers grasped at the cold metal of his armour. “He can’t.”

“And why not?” Leliana asked with a grin, her eyes alight with wonder as she waited for the words to spill out of Ellinor’s mouth. Josephine watched intently as she hovered beside her, while Cassandra held her hand to her mouth as she stared at them both with wide, curious eyes.

“Because he’s in a relationship with me,” She told them, straightening herself up as she let go of her grasp on Cullen’s arm. All was silent for the longest second of her life, almost like time itself had frozen before her eyes. But once the silence passed, time seemed to flow once again, and she was swarmed with giddy smiles and suffocating embraces.

\-----

In the tower which loomed above Skyhold, Dorian placed another book on the discard pile with a sigh. It was no use, he was at a dead end, with no tangible way of finding his way through. Perhaps in another library, he would have had more success, but the truth was, Skyhold was just so poorly stocked.

In his frustration, he marched over to the window, where the warm sunlight streamed through the old weather worn glass to burn his fatigued eyes, causing him to squint as he fought against the vicious light to watch the world pass by before him. People swarmed around Skyhold, crossing the courtyard and pacing along the battlements with a determined air. And, of course, it was time for Cullen’s regular afternoon stroll along the wall overlooking the military camp below.

Except it seemed like he wasn’t alone today, it seemed like he was to be joined by the Inquisitor, an afternoon stroll turned to a business meeting, no doubt.

No rest for the wicked, they say.

He turned to move away from the window, but something caught his eye, made him squint further into the blinding sunlight as he stared down at the people below. Cullen and Ellinor had come to a stop, her back was against the ramparts while he loomed above her.

He saw his hand move to cover hers, his face inch forward piece by piece. 

And then they kissed.

Dorian jumped back from the window with a cry, his foot catching on the pile of discarded books as they crashed to the floor beneath his feet. The whole library stopped and stared at him, their contempt clear upon his face.

But what was he meant to say? How was he meant to handle this?

He turned and fled the library, and soon, he emerged out onto the battlements.

 


End file.
